The invention relates to coin dispensers, and in particular to coin dispensers of the type for dispensing change. Such coin change dispensers are found, for example, at cashier checkout locations and ticket booths and many other places.
Perhaps the best known type of coin change dispenser has a vertical configuration in which a plurality of upstanding coin holding tubes are aligned in a row. Examples of such coin change dispensers are shown, for example, in Walton, U.S. Pat. No. 3,590,833 and Duplessy, U.S. Pat. No. 4,593,709.
Such dispensers are assembled from a large number of small, machined, mechanical parts, especially the parts of the coin ejector mechanisms. A coin dispenser having nine coin tubes would typically provide nine coin ejector mechanisms and each of these would include many small parts.
Coin change dispensers having a more circular configuration have been disclosed in the patent literature, but are not known to have received widespread commercial acceptance. Gauselmann, U.S. Pat. No. 3,191,609 proposed a stationary housing in which a plurality of coin tubes are arranged in a circle or oval. To eject coins from each tube, a coin ejector mechanism moves in a circular or oval path.
Heywood, U.S. Pat. No. 4,276,895 mounts a plurality of vertical coin tubes, arranged in a circle, on a rotatable base. As the base rotates, the coin tubes become aligned with an individual coin ejecting mechanism. The coin ejecting mechanism has a toothed ring that drives two ejector pins that are disposed 180xc2x0 apart. One of the ejector pins is lifted for ejection of a coin by a camming arrangement. This arrangement appears to be disadvantageous for dispensing coins from different coin tubes due to the apparent slow response time for ejection of each denomination.
Adams et al., U.S. Pat. Appl. No. No. 09/785,229, filed Feb. 16, 2001, disclosed the concept of a rotary coin change dispenser with a rotating coin magazine and a single ejector positioned at a single non-movable location around a circular coin path produced by rotation of the coin magazine.
There is a need for improvement in the construction of a rotary coin dispenser to provide a relatively small number of parts, and therefore, a lower manufacturing cost, and to provide modern electronic control for coin dispensing and low coin sensing operations.
The invention provides a novel coin magazine assembly and a number of control features for a rotary coin changer. The invention provides a look-ahead electronic sensor for sensing the approach of a coin channel from which a coin is to be ejected. The invention further provides a look-ahead electronic sensor for sensing the approach of a coin channel to be tested for a low coin condition. The invention further provides an electronic home position sensor for synchronizing operations of a rotating coin magazine. And, the invention provides an electronic exit sensor for sensing ejection of the coins into a dispensing cup to verify that coins have actually been ejected as desired.
The invention further provides position markers for monitoring the angular position of the rotating coin magazine relative to a coin ejector and a low coin detector.
A general object of the invention is to improve the control of coin dispensing by applying modern electronic processors and sensors.
Another object of the invention is to provide an integral coin magazine in which coins are easily loaded, securely held and easily dispensed.
Another object of the invention is provide a minimum number of molded parts in a coin magazine assembly, thereby reducing costs when the dispenser is manufactured in significant volume.
One advantage of the invention is that it is easily adaptable to different national coin sets and to different change capacities, such as $0.99 and $4.99. One coin dispenser could be used with different magazines, including magazines with coins from different countries. The control of the machine with different magazines is accomplished through programmable electronic control.
The coin dispenser of the invention can be used in many applications. For example, the coin dispenser can be used to dispense change at the checkout counter of a grocery store or a convenience store, or at the cashier of a restaurant. The coin dispenser can be provided as part of a system that provides change in exchange for paper currency, or it can be provided in tandem with a currency dispenser, for example, as part of an ATM. It also could be part of a point-of-sale terminal.
Other objects and advantages of the invention, besides those discussed above, will be apparent to those of ordinary skill in the art from the description of the preferred embodiments which follow. In the description, reference is made to the accompanying drawings, which form a part hereof, and which illustrate examples of the invention.